Google to bring AI Overviews to 6 more countries, adds new features to the AI answers
Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) unit Google said on Thursday that it is expanding its AI-generated summaries for search queries to six new countries, and is adding some new features to the product.
AI Overviews — which is backed by Google’s AI model Gemini — will come to the U.K., India, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil, along with local language support in each country.
AI Overviews was launched in the U.S. in May. The product shows AI-generated summaries in response to Google Search queries on the page before traditional links to the Web
However, the product ran into some issues after its launch, as sometimes it showed inaccurate answers. In a blog post in May, Liz Reid, VP, Head of Google Search said “But some odd, inaccurate or unhelpful AI Overviews certainly did show up. And while these were generally for queries that people don’t commonly do, it highlighted some specific areas that we needed to improve.” Google made some changes, including updating its systems to limit the use of user-generated content in responses that could offer misleading advice.
Google said on Thursday that it is adding more features to the product.
The company is adding a new right-hand link display for AI Overviews on desktop, also available on mobile by tapping the site icons on the upper right.
The company is also testing the addition of links to relevant web pages directly within the text of AI Overviews (in addition to the links already shown), making it easier for people to click out and visit sites that interest them.
Google added that this experiment has shown early, positive results. Showing links to supporting web pages directly within AI Overviews is driving higher traffic to publisher sites, according to the company.
Google noted that ads appearing above or below AI Overviews will continue to provide options to people to connect with businesses. In May, Google noted that it would begin testing search and shopping ads in AI Overviews in the U.S.